Manchester City 6-3 Arsenal

Manchester City dealt table toppers Arsenal a hefty wakeup call today as they thrashed them 6-3 at the Etihad Stadium.

Having recently dismantled Tottenham 6-0 , City’s firepower proved too much for Arsene Wenger’ side who were constantly chasing the game. Manuel Pellegrini’s side have now scored 35 league goals at home this season.

It was Sergio Aguero who got the home side off to a flying start with an exquisite finish from inside the area. The goal was soon cancelled out by the returning Theo Walcott, but it wasn’t long until Alvaro Negredo again gave City the advantage.

The sides went in 2-1 at half-time, but after the break City again showed their class through Fernandinho, who slotted home to take the game further away from Wenger’s men

Aguero was taken off with a slight calf injury and City fans may have had cause for concern when Walcott struck again, but a goal from David Silva and a second from Fernandinho made sure it would be a home win for Pellegrini’s side. Per Mertesacker headed one more home before time, but it was too little too late for the Gunners. Yaya Toure sealed the win after slotting home a penalty to make it 6-3 and a humbling defeat for the visiting side.

Chelsea 2-1 Crystal Palace

Chelsea built on an impressive midweek European win with a 2-1 victory against London rivals Crystal Palace.

Fernando Torres netted the opener, before Marouane Chamakh levelled with his third goal in three games soon after. However Tony Pulis couldn’t continue his Eagles revival, with Ramires netting the winner in the first-half. The result moves the Blues into second after with Liverpool yet to play, while West Brom remain worryingly close to the relegation zone.

Everton 4 – 1 Fulham

Everton moved into the top four, and above Liverpool, with a 4-1 win against Fulham. Leon Osman goal gave the Toffees the lead before half-time, before goals from Dimitar Berbatov, Seamus Coleman, Gareth Barry and Kevin Mirallas completed the scoring. The result leaves the Cottagers a point clear of safety, with Rene Meulensteen having much to do to keep his side safe.

Newcastle 1 -1 Southampton

Newcastle and Southampton shared the points at St James’ Park as they both kept up their impressive starts to the season. Yoan Gouffran opened the scoring in the first-half, but the Magpies could hold on for all three points as Jay Rodriguez netted the leveller with 25 minutes to play. A touchline scuffle marred the afternoon, with members of both teams’ benches almost coming to blows in an otherwise orderly encounter.

West Ham 0-0 Sunderland

In the battle at the bottom West Ham and Sunderland secure a point apiece in a forgettable 0-0 at Upton Park. Sam Allardyce’s men once again struggled in front of goal, while Gus Poyet’s side showed glimpses of the form needed to avoid relegation.

Cardiff City 1-0 West Brom

Cardiff managed to produce a real moment of quality when it mattered to win 1-0 against West Brom.

The game was a tense and tetchy affair with both sides nervous in their displays. The home side did eventually start to raise the tempo after a forgettable first 45 minutes.

This eventually brought about a well fashioned glancing header from Peter Whittingham, to break the deadlock, as Craig Noone delivered an excellent cross in a mature performance in only his 4th outing for The Bluebirds.

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West Brom did have their moments with Marshall notably saving a header from Shane Long, but could not build enough momentum to force an equaliser.

This leaves Cardiff sighing with temporary relief whilst West Brom will reflect on a frustrating 4th loss on the spin in the Premier League.

Hull 0-0 Stoke City

The day’s late kick-off ended in a draw, with Hull and Stoke sharing the points in a less than spectacular offering at the KC Stadium.

In a first-half devoid of chances, Curtis Davies spurned one of the better openings as he headed a Tom Huddlestone cross wide of Asmir Begovic’s goal.

Stephen Ireland thought he has opened the scoring in the 70th minute, only to see the flag raised for offside after he poked home after a Peter Crouch header.

Prior to kick-off both sides had the opportunity to climb into 10th position, but point leaves Hull 12th and Stoke 13th.

Pepsi today unveiled details of their superstar 2014 football squad, bringing together an unprecedented wealth of international talent to create one of the most jam packed, multi-talented and iconic lineups ever. 19 of the world’s greatest players, spanning five continents and nearly 20 countries, are uniting with Pepsi to inspire fans the world over to “Live For Now” in 2014.

Record breaking football superstar Leo Messi, Argentinian international striker Sergio Agüero and young British talent Jack Wilshere will be joined by Brazilian defender David Luiz, prolific goal scorer Robin van Persie and Spanish great Sergio Ramos as part of the global Pepsi lineup. These super six will be bolstered by additional footballing greats from across the globe representing their home countries, including: Juan Guillermo Cuadrado (Colombia), Clint Dempsey (USA), Tarik Elyounoussi (Norway), Maynor Figueroa (Honduras), Mario Gomez (Germany), Vincent Kompany (Belgium), Kemar Lawrence (Jamaica), Victor Moses (Nigeria), Peter Osaze Odemwingie (Nigeria), Oribe Peralta (Mexico), Andriy Pyatov (Ukraine), Mohamed Salah (Egypt) and Gylfi Por Sigurðsson (Iceland).

“Football has been my passion since I was a little boy and it’s certainly one of the things I live for now. I am so proud to be partnering with Pepsi again and representing the brand globally as part of this star-studded team,” says four-time player of the year and Argentinian captain Leo Messi.

Earlier today the Pepsi players took to social media to unveil the entire roster in an exciting digital relay that reached fans across the globe.

David Luiz, Premier League player for Chelsea and vice-captain for Brazil’s national team, comments:

“I’m excited to be teaming up with Pepsi and proud to be part of such a great team. For me, playing football is about making the most of every second on the pitch and showing your love and character for the game – and for the fans. I can’t wait to join fans from across the world and celebrate football.”

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The global player announcement also kicked off a series of exciting year-long activities as part of the 2014 Pepsi Football campaign. Not only will the players star in Pepsi’s global television commercial released later in the year, a selection of the players will also be featured on limited edition, eye-catching packaging and point of sale across the globe, designed to bring to life their flair and enthusiasm for the game. Special commemorative packaging featuring the global Pepsi players will start appearing in market in March, while integrations with music, art, digital, interactive experiences and additional special products will be unveiled throughout the year. Throughout the years, football has been a strong driver of growth for PepsiCo, with both its global beverages and snacks brands activating robust programs in 2014.

Kristin Patrick, Pepsi Global Chief Marketing Officer, PepsiCo Global Beverages Group comments:

“Pepsi has had a tremendous relationship with football, going back nearly 15 years. For this, our latest incarnation, we’ve brought together our most impressive Pepsi football roster yet, comprised of players who truly embody our brand spirit and excite and electrify us every time they step on the pitch. Our players know how to live for the moment, and throughout the year we’ll be collaborating with them to bring our fans exciting and engaging content, products and experiences – bringing fans closer to the game they love.”

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In the UK Pepsi Max will be featuring the global football super team in a full, through the line campaign, including limited edition packaging, point of sale, outdoor and digital support.

Sebastian Micozzi, UK Head of Marketing – Beverages, comments:

“We are thrilled to bring this new football campaign to the UK. Football is such a passion point for our brand and our consumers. It is one of the many ways we celebrate Pepsi’s Live for Now ethos. The line-up of players involved in this new campaign is truly unrivalled and shows how passionate and committed we are to growing our longstanding association with global football. Our consumers in the UK can look forward to lots of exciting activities in the coming months.”

Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany has called on his side to take emotion out of the equation to ease to a second Premier League title in three seasons.

The Sky Blues top the table going into the final game of 2013/14, with their impressive recent run having moved them ahead of Liverpool – who have dropped four points in their last two games.

City know that a win – and most likely even a draw – at home to West Ham will see them claim the trophy and complete a domestic double that also includes the Capital One Cup.

In 2012 the Citizens entered the final day of the season with the title on the line and almost lost it to local rivals Manchester United before Sergio Aguero netted a vital injury time goal against QPR to complete a 3-2 victory and claim crown on goal difference.

Kompany was one of the stars of that day, but this time he wants his team to do things the easy way:

“We have been in this situation before. That gives you that little bit of time to take a deep breath and keep an overview of the situation.” He is quoted by the Daily Star.

“Two years ago it felt very full on, the whole game. There were a lot of emotions involved – scoring the first goal, going down – there were too much emotions involved.

“I think this year we will hopefully only have to show our emotions at the end of the game.

“There is no guarantee, that is one thing we have learned, but we have won a lot of games at the Etihad.

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“We just need to put ourselves back in the mindset that we can carry on winning games here.

“I am sure Liverpool players and fans will still hope as well, so therefore we just need to do our job.”

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West Ham have made another signing this summer, adding Enner Valencia to their squad. The striker was one of Ecuador’s best performers at the World Cup, scoring all three of his national side’s goals.

Sam Allardyce came in for a lot of criticism last season due to his style of play, and the West Ham boss has been pressured into improving on the quality of football at Upton Park next season.

But the transfers made by the club thus far have been promising, with Mauro Zarate having already been signed to improve the team’s fortunes in attack. The capture of Valencia is another step in the right direction.

With the team in need of further additions, here’s a look at six players who could follow Valencia to West Ham.

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Ashley Young

Ashley Young is rumoured to be on am Allardyce’s wish list this summer, with the Manchester United winger taking on a lot of criticism for much of his time at Old Trafford and possibly in need of a change.

West Ham would present a good move for Young, who needs a move away from the spotlight in order to regain the form he showed at Aston Villa. With plenty of attacking options at United, it’s unlikely he’ll see a lot of game time under van Gaal.

Wilfried Zaha

Wilfried Zaha doesn’t appear to have a future at Manchester United, even with new manager Louis van Gaal on board. A permanent move away may be best for the former Crystal Palace winger.

But West Ham are said to be interested in bringing the youngster back to London, and if his Palace form is anything to go by, the club could be onto something with Zaha, who has already collected an England cap.

Zaha would undoubtedly see regular games at Upton Park, and though it is certainly a step down from where he is at Manchester United, a move like this is the best step for a player in Zaha’s situation.

Jack Rodwell

Jack Rodwell has had a torrid time since moving to the Etihad, playing little to no part in the club’s title win last season and failing to build on the form he showed while at Goodison Park. The only answer this summer is to seek a move away in order to get regular games under his belt.

At West Ham, Sam Allardyce may be the perfect manager to help Rodwell regain his confidence A reinvigorated Rodwell would do a lot of good at Upton Park, able to provide plenty of drive and creativyt from the midfield.

Rodwell’s career is far from over, and if he can rediscover the form that garnered so much attention while he was at Everton, he’ll be a key player in Sam Allardyce’s team.

Micah Richards

Micah Richards is a target for Liverpool this summer, but West Ham would do equally well to land the Manchester City centre-back.

There’s a good player in the versatile defender, who has suffered from the constant high spend of the owners at Manchester City. But a move to London could see Richards kick start his career, possibly even earning a place in future England squads. The priority for now, however, is to move on from the last few seasons and get his career back on track.

Kostas Mitroglou

Kostas Mitroglou may end up staying at Fulham this summer, but the Greece international is undoubtedly better than the Championship.

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West Ham were said to be interested in January and may be an option for the 26-year-old, who has barely featured for Fulham since making the switch to the Premier League. Continued into the summer, he offered very little with Greece at the World Cup.

But if his scoring form with Olympiakos is anything to go by, he’d be a good signing for Sam Allardyce this summer, with the need for regular games having been his major problem of late.

Lewis Holtby

A lot was expected of Lewis Holtby upon his arrival at Tottenham from Schalke, but the 23-year-old failed to nail down a regular place before heading to Fulham on loan.

It appears Tottenham will go with what they have in the way of midfield options for next season, but even then, Holtby is surplus to requirements and may need a move away.

Holtby show a lot of promise while in Germany, and for a team like West Ham who are said to be after creative midfielders, Holtby would be the ideal addition.

James Milner is adamant that his Manchester City side do not fear German opponents Bayern Munich.

The Sky Blues will open their European campaign against the Bundesliga champions tomorrow night having met them on four occasions over the course of the last three Champions League campaigns.

Although they initially struggled against the Bavarians, City claimed a monumental win in their last clash with Bayern, beating them 3-2 after trailing by two goals in the Allianz Arena.

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The victory was not enough to push Manuel Pellegrini’s side through ahead of the Germans in the group at the time, but it has served as a boost for their players.

Milner is one of the stars to have been buoyed by past events, and the England international insists that he and his team-mates are not scared of Pep Guardiola’s outfit:

“We should know them pretty well now, we’ve played them a lot these past couple of years, even in friendlies, so we know they’re a top team,” he is quoted by Goal.

“You can’t do what they’ve done over the last few years and have their record in the Champions League without being a top team, but you want to play against the best teams and we’ve done that.

“We beat them at their place last year and we should take a lot of confidence from that and go into the game with no fear, knowing we’ve been there before and got three points.

“I don’t think there’s many teams who would have come back from [being two goals down].

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“It would have been game done, but that shows the character and the quality we have in the squad, and to have that mental strength to come back and win the game is massive.”

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Juan Mata is still a very important player for Manchester United and any talk of him being sold is completely un-called for.

There are rumours flying around already that in January Mata will be sold or used in a potential swap deal to attract better players to the club. Since the summer splurge that saw Louis Van Gaal put together his very own dream team at Old Trafford, Mata seems to be the forgotten one.

When he signed for the Red Devils last winter from Chelsea, he was touted as the signing of the season because of his pure quality and ability. Jose Mourinho was branded an idiot for selling one of his best assets and was accused of letting his famously big ego get in the way of rational thinking when deciding to sell the Spaniard. He is one of the best players in the Premiership, he was at Chelsea and still is at Manchester United and for anyone to suggest that his days in Manchester are numbered because of the players they have brought in is too much.

Those who watched the 4-0 drubbing of QPR over the weekend will have noticed that Mata was involved heavily in the majority of the phases of attack and was linking up play between the other midfield players and the strikers superbly. His movement on and off the ball is always exceptional and it goes hand in hand with his goal scoring ability. The player brings so much to the table and is a vital ingredient for the rebuilding of the Man United squad and any future success they might have will also have a lot to do with keeping hold of him.

As a club who has perhaps struggled, when you start rebuilding a squad and buying in a lot of star players, you want to ensure that you are also keeping hold of the existing talent already at your disposal. Look at his performance over the weekend. Did he look out of place alongside the likes of Angel Di Maria and Andes Herrera? No, in fact he looked their best player and capped off his brilliant performance with a goal, and for me was the rightful man of the match winner despite the award going to Di Maria (who I do not want to take anything away from as he also had a sublime game).

Despite the fact that Mata is a star player, he seems to have been cast into the shadow of United’s latest arrivals, not on the pitch but in the media. It’s not really a surprise these days to see newspaper journalists and “ITK” twitter accounts trying to boost numbers by churning out these types of stories, you will always find a player being linked elsewhere at some stage, especially when his club have just finished splurging the cash on a load of new faces, it becomes inevitable. The story currently doing the rounds is that Mata will be used as bait in a swap deal with Roma to lure Kevin Strootman to Old Trafford in January.

How can anyone take this seriously when the Spaniard has netted an impressive eight goals in the last ten games for United. This alone proves he has to stay a vital part of Louis Van Gaal’s plans for the first team. United will be reluctant to part ways with the player in January despite the rumours currently doing the rounds. Juventus would also have had him as a top transfer target because of the need to strengthen that area of the squad and Mata would be ideal as he isn’t cup tied for the Champions League as United are not in the competition this season, but other than that a move will probably be unlikely.

Van Gaal knows his players well and he knows how valuable a player he has in Juan Mata. The Dutch manager will have him pinned as a vital part of his plans to start propelling Man United back up the table again, and alongside the new signings at the club, he has a very strong squad. The evidence speaks for itself, and the Spaniard might have been overlooked by people in the media when it came to heaping praise on the team for a brilliant performance over the weekend, but that means nothing. He is staying and that is the end of the Mata!

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This time last season, under the much-maligned David Moyes, Manchester United were four points and two places better off in the Premier League – so why isn’t current manager Louis van Gaal surrounded by the same kind of pressure that eventually forced out the Scot after just ten months at Old Trafford?

THE STATS

They say the stats don’t lie, and those published by the Daily Express yesterday afternoon are incredibly revealing. Courtesy of Opta, Moyes was beating the United incumbent on virtually all fronts after his first ten league games at Old Trafford.

Indeed, he recorded five wins compared to van Gaal’s three, despite facing Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea in the early part of the season. Moyes’ boys had netted 17 goals at the ten-game mark, one more than van Gaal’s Red Devils, and conceded one less goal than United’s 14 this season.

Their tackle success rate was almost ten per-cent higher at 82%, their shots on target ratio – 48% compared 44% – was also marginally greater and United were yet to see red this time last year. Under van Gaal however, both Chris Smalling and Tyler Blackett have already been sent for early baths.

Perhaps most telling of all, Moyes had spent just £27.5million on a single player as Carrington gaffer, Marouane Fellaini. In a single window, his successor’s splashed out over five times that much – including a record-breaking £59million deal for Real Madrid’s Angel Di Maria.

This is actually United’s worst start to a domestic campaign since Ron Atkinson’s regime in 1986, with Sir Alex Ferguson arriving as his replacement in early November, so in theory, van Gaal should be under even greater scrutiny than Moyes received last season.

But with the exception of some traditional tabloid scare-mongering, public criticism of the Dutchman is relatively subdued. Some, such as The Independent and The Telegraph, dare to claim van Gaal’s on the periphery of a crisis, but planes with banners over the skies of Old Trafford, or for that matter, the #LVGOUT hash-tag, are yet to appear on the horizon.

CHANGED EXPECTATIONS

Of course, the obvious difference between Moyes and van Gaal’s regimes is the level of expectancy surrounding them. Moyes took over a United outfit that had strolled their way to the Premier League title the year previous; van Gaal, on the other hand, is rescuing a sinking ship that didn’t even qualify for the Europa League last season.

Whereas the Scot was expected to oversee a resolute, earnest title defence – or failing that, retain United’s Champions League status – van Gaal hasn’t even discussed a target league position with chief executive Ed Woodward, according to The Independent.

Likewise, Moyes’ hellish ten months proved that the problems at Old Trafford stem far deeper than simply the man in the dugout. Ferguson’s monolithic stature, knowledge of the club, the Premier League and his world-class expertise were paving over the cracks for years. Fans know that quick fixes won’t return the Red Devils to their former glories, and that’s given van Gaal a lot of room for error.

PHILOSOPHY

There’s a real awareness that United and van Gaal, as a partnership, are still a work in progress. They’ve tested three different formations under the Dutchman, issued Premier League debuts to no less than ten players – including the summer signings – and despite spending £150million during the summer, will clearly be recruiting further in the next two transfer windows.

Shrewdly, van Gaal has communicated this clearly to the fan base. He warned it would take at least three months for his methods to prove fruitful, and the conscious, explicit soundbite of his opening press conference as United boss was  simply ‘my philosophy’.

Moyes, on the other hand, was always an appointment of continuity. The superficial similarities between Moyes and Ferguson, in addition to him inheriting a title-winning side, limited the Scot’s scope to instigate wholesale changes in his ten months at Old Trafford.

That in turn created a perception of the 51 year-old as a manager lacking in vision, seemingly too overawed to take the club in his own direction, and eventually made poor results the only difference between his regime and the former.

PUBLIC RELATIONS AND LIFE AT A BIG CLUB

From the off, Moyes never looked comfortable at United, especially when it came to handling the media. United fans were used to Ferguson berating and banning journalists at will, blaming referees for defeats and producing the odd, sophisticated, sarcastic remark.

Moyes however, always appeared to be coming to terms  with the added attention placed on him compared to the humbler, smaller surroundings at Goodison Park. From struggling to quash rumours of Wayne Rooney’s departure to Chelsea in summer 2013 to putting a 3-2 defeat to Stoke City in February down to bad luck, Moyes never replicated the confidence or fearful demeanour of his predecessor. With every wayward result, the Scot appeared more dishevelled, as if he hadn’t slept in months, and increasingly desperate – almost aware of the negative vibes he was giving off.

Compare that to van Gaal whom, even before arriving at Old Trafford, had a reputation as one of the most egotistical and eccentric managers in the business. He’s walked off the Dutch equivalent of Match of the Day, live on air, after discovering his customary punditry slot had been given to someone else, dropped his trousers and undergarments to the entire Bayern Munich dressing room and even benched Brazilian legend Rivaldo just weeks after winning the World Player of the Year award. He’s also referred to several journalists over the years, in addition to Chris Smalling on Sunday afternoon, as ‘stupid’.

They say sport is 90% psychological; whereas van Gaal’s personality and voice tends to fill the room, even in broken English, Moyes often resembled a school teacher conscripted into hosting a PTA meeting. Even in the early stages of his United tenure, it was clear Moyes’ public performances would never fully convince the media or the fan base.

LACK OF ALTERNATIVES

Even if van Gaal is on the verge of a full-blown crisis, he’s insulated by the fact there’s no longer a plan B for United. Rumours of the Dutchman overtaking from Moyes circulated as early as last Christmas, whilst Borussia Dortmund’s Jurgen Klopp and Antonio Conte of Juventus were linked strongly too.

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Right now however, candidates to potentially succeed van Gaal remain few and far between – Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Conte and Klopp are all settled in their respective jobs – and following £150million of investment during the summer, pulling the plug now could well result in unprecedented catastrophe.

The squad has been forged in the 63 year-old’s image with his philosophy in mind; although another manager coming in is hardly unimaginable amid a Premier League climate where the average tenure is just over one year, it would clearly only set United back even further.

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Nigel Pearson’s Leicester City currently sit bottom of the Premier League table with just 10 points from a possible 45. Since Pearson took over for his second spell at the club in November 2011, he has no doubt been a major success story at the King Power Stadium. But after such a poor start to life back in the top-tier, should Leicester make the bold decision to part company with Pearson sooner rather than later?

Despite a very respectable start with back-to-back wins over Stoke City and Manchester United respectively, things have gone downhill pretty drastically at Leicester. When the Foxes followed up their impressive 1-0 away win over Stoke, with the incredible comeback win against Manchester United a week later, it looked as though Pearson’s side were more than capable of holding their own at this level.

But after a dire run of eight defeats in 10 Premier League games since, the Foxes have hit rock bottom of the league table – four points off safety. It’s always hard for a team that are so used to winning games in the Championship, to move up a level and start losing matches more often than not. The last two Championship winners – Reading and Cardiff City – have found the Premier League just too hard to cope with and have been relegated at the first time of asking.

Since Pearson took over at Leicester for a second time, he has undoubtedly improved the squad and indeed the style of football. In his three years back at the club, Leicester finished ninth then fourth, before winning the Championship title last season. After the heartache of losing the 2013 play-off semi-final to Watford in dramatic fashion, Leicester were by far the Championship’s best side last year and deserved to finally get back to the Premier League after a 10-year absence.

But we all know just how vicious England’s top-tier can be. Sometimes sacking the manager isn’t the right the thing to do. Last season, all three relegated clubs sacked their managers at some point in the campaign. It’s certainly a difficult decision for any chairman to make, especially when a manager has done as well as Pearson has over the years at Leicester.

Unfortunately for Pearson, it looks as though some of the fans are running out of patience. The Leicester boss recently had a run-in with a supporter after the Foxes 3-1 home defeat to Liverpool last week. Pearson allegedly swore at the fan after a heated exchange of words. The Leicester fan was said to have criticised the team performance after the loss.

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As we touched on earlier, there is no doubt that Pearson has done a terrific job at the King Power Stadium. He got his side playing very expansive football, and made them very hard to beat. But after such a poor start to life back in the Premier League, maybe he has taken them as far as he possibly can – and maybe the Leicester chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha should pull the plug while he has the chance.

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During the tail-end of last season and the following summer, the St. Mary’s faithful saw their collective of popular names, from Adam Lallana and Luke Shaw to Mauricio Pochettino, become linked with high-profile moves away from the Saints.

Such promising form in the 2013/14 Premier League season sent shock waves around the rest of England’s footballing community, fuelling transfer stories and the next crazy money rumour ready to do the rounds. Whilst the last thing Southampton fans would want is for their current crop of stars to be similarly linked away from St. Mary’s, Ronald Koeman’s impressive start to life as Southampton boss seems to have done just that.

Koeman has been linked with a prestigious move back to the Barcelona by the Mail, a club that he once captained. As this is a move that would certainly be welcomed by the Dutchman, could such a dramatic deal really happen? And what would life be like for Southampton without their enigmatic leader?

What makes this story so believable is the affection that Koeman is held in around the Camp Nou. The former Feyenoord boss is just as much, if not more, of a favourite at Barcelona than he currently is with the Saints and an offer to return to Catalonia would be too good for almost any manager to turn down. Although half a season in the Premier League may seem like too short a time period to really get to know a manager, in today’s fickle footballing world, a half a season is often all it takes to seal an illustrious move to greater pastures.

The reported bust-ups with current Barcelona boss Luis Enrique and several of his main stars – most notably Lionel Messi – has helped add fuel to the Koeman fire. While there remain few concrete details about the supposed tension in the Barcelona camp, and there is always a certain amount of gossip around such things, the seed has nonetheless been planted regarding a managerial change at the Nou Camp.

However, The Daily Mail also reported that Koeman denied he will be making an immediate return to La Liga. Southampton’s Champions League push is thought to be at the forefront of his mind right now, and if the Saints can achieve the impossible and qualify for Europe’s most sought-after competition, the Dutch boss would be mad to leave a team that are so clearly on the up. They have defied all odds so far this season, and whilst several of the players and backroom staff were in place before their new manager’s arrival, Ronald Koeman deserves a huge share of the credit.

If the worst were to happen to Southampton however, and their main man leave for the glory of Barcelona, the South Coast side could be in a tough spot of bother to say the very least. Koeman is largely responsible for the new signings brought into the club, and if the likes of Graziano Pelle were ready to jump ship with him once already, who’s to say that their ties to the Dutchman wouldn’t give them reason to make another similar move in the future.

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Ultimately the situation with Ronald Koeman, despite the seeming immediacy of the reports linking him to Barcelona, remains very much up in the air at this current stage. It swings on several different factors, with Southampton and Barcelona’s league form for the rest of the 2014/15 season likely to prove a major deciding factor.

Whilst a move away from St. Mary’s would certainly seem premature this season, if Ronald Koeman goes on to continue his impressive start to life in the Premier League, a move back to Barcelona would simply become inevitable, however harsh that seems on the Southampton faithful.

Look at the best leagues in Europe – the ‘big five’. You have the Premier League, La Liga, the Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1. They are the leagues that produce the most Champions League teams and definitely stand out as the best standard of football. (You may question the inclusion of France but it is improving, and still probably deserves its place above Holland and Portugal).

But let’s look closer at these leagues, and the competition within them.

Bayern Munich are as good as champions in Germany. They are so dominant that they are pretty much just using their league games as warm-ups for their assault on the Champions League. Wolfsburg, Bayern’s nearest competitors given the fall of Dortmund this season, lost at the weekend, and are now nine points behind the Bavarians.

Juventus are in a very similar boat in Italy. Roma could only draw with Chievo this weekend and so the Old Lady is sitting pretty. Juve are eight points clear of the teams behind, and a win tonight would put them 11 points to the good.

The Premier League is going a similar way to the others. Chelsea are reigning supreme, five points clear of Manchester City with a game in hand. That game in hand doesn’t come until late in April, but it is against lowly Leicester and Man City will need to pick up the pace very quickly if they are to catch up.

La Liga is more interesting, but settling back into the familiar pattern of a Classico duel after last season’s surprise win for Atletico Madrid. Barcelona are a point clear, capitalising on Real Madrid’s defeat in Bilbao on Saturday by winning 6-1 at home to Rayo Vallecano. It’s what we’ve come to expect – when the top two lose it’s a surprise, and they’ll run away with it again.

It is in France, surprisingly, where the most exciting race of the ‘top five’ is happening. Lyon top the table by a point from Paris Saint-Germain. Marseille are still only three points behind, and then Monaco are looking to close the gap to seven points by winning their game in hand against Montpellier. You do still feel that if PSG can put a run of wins together they will pull away from the rest, however. Their squad is so much better than the rest.

But now look at the Championship! Just look how tight it is!

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It is often said that the Championship is the hardest league in the world. It is notoriously difficult to play your own passing game with physical defenders hassling and harrying, and every team can beat any other team on a given day. Reputations tend to count for nothing.

But it is never usually this tight! The top seven teams are separated by only five points. Literally any one of them could win the league if they put a run together. Any two could gain automatic promotion, and at one of those teams will be very disappointed come May as they will have missed out on a play-off spot too.

The Championship is a second division, though. A ‘lower league’. So of course the standard of football is going to be lower in this league than in the top European leagues. And it isn’t just full of former Premier League clubs and ‘sleeping giants’, there are also teams like Rotherham (not to mention Bournemouth and Brentford, who are part of that group of teams challenging for the title!) who are more used to divisions lower than the second tier.

This is reflected in the average attendances. The average attendance across the whole league is just 14,808. Now this isn’t staggeringly low. Most Championship grounds hold fewer fans than Premier League grounds for example, and some are quite low capacity. But there are some grounds only half full some weeks.

This makes sense at clubs like Blackburn and Leeds, big clubs with a Premier League set-up who have been languishing below the big time and show no signs of coming back up.

But a more worrying reason for this is the ticket prices.

We hear every year that it costs less to watch Bayern Munich or Barcelona every week than it does to watch English teams. The average season ticket price in the Championship this season is £342.70. This is actually down from previous seasons

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But it still only costs £104 to buy a season ticket to see Bayern Munich.

As quoted in the Daily Mail, Uli Hoeness said in May 2013: “We could charge more than £104. Let’s say we charged £300. We’d get £2m more in income but what’s £2m to us? In a transfer discussion you argue about that sum for five minutes.”

This isn’t true for Championship clubs, of course, but the fact that watching Robben, Muller and co. each week is so much cheaper than watching Championship games is food for thought. Admittedly, though, this does sound a little strange coming from Hoeness given that he was sentenced to three years in prison last year for tax fraud. He doesn’t exactly look like a true ‘man of the people’ just now. But he said back then was right.

But England has a league that is unrivalled in Europe for passion and excitement. Surely this has to be one of the metrics of how we measure the best league in the world? And surely it makes sense to advertise this by lowering ticket prices, putting it on TV more and showing the world why the Championship really is one of the top leagues in the world.

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